Katalyst Research Grant

TERMS OF REFERENCE

KPU has committed funds to enhance the environment and visibility of scholarly and research activity.

OBJECTIVES

Katalyst Grants are designed to fund highly meritorious short-term research or scholarly activity that forms a new direction in the research career of the investigator(s). The grant especially encourages activities that are interdisciplinary or offers other theoretical, methodological, or empirical innovation. The grant also encourages applications from new scholars to establish their initial research programs. Collaborative and interdisciplinary projects, including those that integrate the Humanities and Social Sciences with the Natural, Applied, or Health Sciences, will be considered.

Grants for the Creative and Performing Arts will also be awarded to support innovative, integrative and/or critically grounded production, reinterpretation or performances of creative works. This may include the development or completion of existing original works for performances, exhibition or publication with particular emphasis on new approaches to presentation or representation.

Katalyst Grants are not intended to replace funding available from the Natural Science and Engineering Council (NSERC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), other external granting sources or other internal funding competitions. Katalyst Grants are not to be used as supplementary funding for already funded research projects. Rather, the grants are meant for research projects that will enable the investigator(s) to establish a research record in a new area, enabling future external funding possibilities. Thus, proposals should detail how the Katalyst funded project will form the basis for future applications to provincial, national, and international funding agencies.

Participation by undergraduate students in the proposed research is strongly encouraged, and their research responsibilities clearly explained.

Given the limited available funding and interest in funding as many proposals as possible, a detailed, realistic budget is expected with each application up to a maximum request of $25,000.

ELIGIBILITY

  1. Katalyst Grants: All faculty, staff and administrators.
  2. No researcher may apply for new Katalyst grant funding until any previously funded Katalyst project is completed and its Final Report submitted.
  3. No researcher may hold OR apply for either as Principal Investigator or Co-investigator, more than one Katalyst grant at a time.
  4. Applications will not be accepted for Katalyst grant consideration that are essentially the same, in whole or in part, as a proposal submitted simultaneously or under review by NSERC, SSHRC or any other external agencies.
    1. If the applicants are currently supported by NSERC, SSHRC or other external agencies, the Katalyst grant proposal must clearly differentiate between the funding already obtained and that being requested from the Katalyst.
    2. While NSERC, SSHRC and other grants may be held concurrently, it is important that there should be no direct project overlap.
    3. The abstract/summary page for any funding already obtained or currently being requested from other sources should be attached to the application. If this is not available, applicants should include a short descriptive paragraph for each of the research projects currently held or applied for whose status is not yet known.

REVIEW AND ADJUDICATION

Katalyst Grant applications are adjudicated by a committee of KPU faculty peers from Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Horticulture, the Library, Community and Health Studies and ACA. While the committee members are researchers in their own fields and with varied areas of expertise, applicants cannot rely on the committee being knowledgeable in her/his research speciality. Thus, proposed research written in non-technical language understandable to researchers in other fields is strongly recommended.

An intent of the Katalyst Grant is to provide funding to enhance researchers’ competitive position when applying for external funding, and not to replace external funding. Thus, proposals that involve the development of new areas of research for the applicant or which prepare them to demonstrate a research competence when applying for external funding are prioritized by the Adjudication Committee over those which continue existing research endeavours.

Applicants whose research programs are already funded, are encouraged to be especially diligent in explaining why the additional funding from Katalyst is necessary. Such funding will likely only be available when the Adjudication Committee is convinced that the proposed project involves the applicant(s) in a new field of research, or when there is a compelling innovative focus.

GUIDELINES

  1. Grants are awarded for projects that have clearly defined objectives and methods meeting the criteria established for the Katalyst Fund.
  2. Awards are for a maximum period of two years.
  3. Collaborative/interdisciplinary projects:
    1. When collaborative projects are being proposed, clearly indicate in your project description, the extent to which your proposed project is collaborative in both intellectual content and research roles, and identify the roles and contributions of each member of the research team.
    2. While interdisciplinary projects are especially encouraged, the actual nature of that interdisciplinary contribution must be clearly articulated. Clearly indicate the manner and extent to which the project is interdisciplinary and the contribution that each ‘discipline’ will make to the research orientation and research tasks of the project.
  4. Funding Criteria:
    1. Individual awards have a project a maximum of $25,000. Interdisciplinary collaborative projects are especially encouraged.
    2. Katalyst Grant funds neither cover ANY research expenses of non-KPU research collaborators nor research expenses (including travel and accommodation) incurred by community partners.
    3. Katalyst Grant funds cannot be transferred to other institutions or community partners.
    4. The Katalyst Grant award permits a maximum of one section of Release Time with a value of up to $15,000. Requests for time release must be pre-approved by the Dean prior to submitting the Katalyst application.  Applicants must also verify replacement costs with their Dean's office and enter the amount in the budget.
    5. It is recommended that 33% ($8,333) of a $25,000 budget be dedicated to hiring student research assistants.  Applications that do not meet this criteria must include justification.
    6. Other allowable expenses are detailed in the document entitled ‘Use of Grant Funds’, located at FAQs. This document is not intended to be all-inclusive and eligibility questions should be directed to the ORRS for clarification.
  5. A Progress Report indicating accomplishments achieved through the Katalyst Grant must be submitted to ORRS within six months of the end of the term of the grant. This form is available in Romeo.

Application deadline - March 4, 2019 @ 4 pm - COMPETITION CLOSED

On-line application through Romeo Researcher Portal
Katalyst - Application Guidelines

Katalyst - Budget & Budget Justification

March 2019 Award Recipients

  • Fergal Callaghan, Physics - Developing sensors for the detection of volatile organic compounds emitted by plants
  • Johnathan Myhre, Biology - Toxicological Profiling of Agricultural Biocontrol Species
  • Mandeep Pannu, Computer Science & Information System - Analyzing and Data Mining for Proactive Cyber-Security Threat Intelligence on the Dark Side of the Web
  • Asma Sayed, English - History of South Asian Radio Broadcasting in British Columbia, 1970-2018
  • Dianne Symonds, Nursing - Preventing Fentanyl Deaths from Overdose: Students'  Perspectives'
  • Valérie Vézina, Political Science - Islandness in non-islands territories: A look at enclaves territories